Running shoes vs. Bike Shoes

I notice a big change in power sensation, mainly on the upstroke with bike shoes. Toe cages are better than running shoes on flats, but if your foot is securely locked into the pedal, I would imagine your 20+mph would improve as well. I picked up Louis Garneau TriAir shoes for around $90 I believe at Trisports.com (there's a BT 10% of code), and with my new SPD-SL cleats, I can really feel a difference in power output, even compared to my older Wellgo pedals/cleats.

Well, I recently made that change.
I went with Specialized Road shoes with a Carbon sole.
They just fit better than any others I tried on.

I saw an immediate 1-2 mph increase in speed.
Calves didn't fatigue near as fast.

They are also more comfortable in general for riding.

I can't see going back.
Good luck finding ones that work for you.

My bike time has decreased dramatically since I've started using clips/bike shoes. They are just much more efficient, and the hard sole help my arch hurts less than when I was using running shoes.

I also second the Louis Garneau AirTri shoe...I got a sweet deal at Nytro.com and bought the Shimano SPD-SL pedals off of ebay for cheap.

I would think once you get used to clipless and round out your stroke you can easily add 1mph or so to your speed. Clipless pedals/shoes are the best thing you can do to improve your pedaling efficiency and, subsequently, your speed. If you're averaging 20 with running shoes, you might be able to hit 22 with clipless.

Third on the Louis Garneau AirTri as a lower-priced alternative.

Edited by the bear 2006-06-27 11:57 AM

I am a former CAT 3 roadie that converted to tri/ du. From a cycling standpoint, CLipless pedals offer a variety of benefits over using flat pedals and running shoes on the bike. As many have said, the inherent benefit is the ability to utilize the full pedal stroke, rather then just a down stroke. By full pedal stroke, I refer to the ability of a cyclist to not only push down, but push up on the pedals through the full range of motion of the cranks.

Clipless pedals really allow one to work on cadence, by pedaling in "circles" rather then "mashing" the pedals down. This is a drill that most competitve cyclists use in the winter on their trainers, to improve cadence. Move the pedals in a circle, and see how much more efficient you become. You should see this refelected on your cyclocomputer if it has the ability to read cadence.

When shopping for shoes, remember that pedals come in a variety of flavors. The tradition rad pedal is whats refered to as the "Look" style, which is a wide cleat that clips into a one- sided pedal. Many road cyclists use mountain bike pedals, which are generally double-sided and offer more "float" which is a term that referes to the amount of lateral (side to side) movement your foot has while clipped in. This is very important, because the dynamics of the pedal stroke tends to move the foot laterally depending on the pedal stroke. People with bad knees often complain that pedals with little float aggravates their knee pain.

Also, look for a shoes with a stiff sole. Many of the upper end (i.e. expensive) shoes have carbon fiber soles that are extremely stiff. Stiffness is important, because you dont want the shoe to flex in the pedal stroke- you want to apply the maximum amount of power to the pedals.

Any questions email me offline if you like. You may not see any instaneous results by going to a clipless pedal system, becuase it will take some time for you to adapt to a more efficient circular pedal stroke, but you will eventually.

If you'll be looking for new Shimano pedals, check out my pedals for sale in the classifieds section:

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp...